Valve lifting tool



May 9, 1933. J. SUNNEN 1,907,609

VALVE LIFTING TOOL Filed May 2; 1932 7 nsfpf/ SUA/NEN.

Patented May 9, 1932?` UNITED STATES JOSEPH SUNNEN, F KIRKWOOD, MISSOURIVALVE LIFTIN'G Toor.

Application filed May 2, 1932. Serial No. 608,723.

My invention has relation to improvements in valve lifting tools and itconsists in the novelfeatures of construction more fully set forth inthe specification and pointed out in the claims.

The present invention is an improvement over that shown in my Patent No.1,792,451, dated February l0, 1931, and is of the same general type inthat the tool comprises a base member having a handle lever and a valvepart lifting lever pivotally connected to said base lever. However, thepresent invention has a wider scope of usefulness than that shown in thepatent referred to, in that it ,is adjustable to perform operations onvalves of various makes of engines and otherwise embodies a flexibilitynot possessed by that of the valve lifter of the aforesaid patent.

Specifically, the principal object of the invention is to provide avalve lifting tool having a wide scope of usefulness, although being ofcomparatively small size so Vthat 1t may be easily handled. A furtherobject of the invention is to embody lateral adjustabil ity in thespring seats at the end of the lifting lever for the accommodation ofvarious sizes of springs, and to provide an adjustable connectionbetween the relatively movable members of the tool so that the spacingof said members may be varied according to the requirements of theparticular operation. It is also an object of the invention to embodyilexibility in the base member so that the operation of the tool willnot be impaired if the terminal supporting elements of the base memberhave uneven support. These objects, as well as other advantages that areinherent in the invention will be betterv understood from a detaileddescription of the invention in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of my improved valve lifter shown appliedto and about to raise a valve spring for the subsequent removal thereof;Fig. 2 is a top plan of my improved valve lifter; Fig. 3 is a sideelevation 'similar to Fig. l, except that the valve lifter has beenactuated so as to raise the valve Aspring (shown dotted); Fig. 4 is afront elevation showing the base supports and the :the tool.

different planes;

lever of the'toolyFig. 7 is a similar section showing the base supportstwisted out of line with each other to correspondV with their positionsin Fig. 5; vand Fig. 8 is a face view of what may be` termed a ball-seatwhereby the link is iexibly connected to the base member. v

Referring to the drawing, l represents a base member comprising channellside bars 2, 2 bent upwardly and tapering toward their forwardextremities 3, 3 which comprise the supports or props of the tool whenperformuing valveV lifting operations. o The inner flanges 2', 2 ofchannel bars 2, 2 terminate intermediate the ends thereof,.and theouterflanges 2, 2 are connected near the endsl to form a handle 4. A shortdistance inwardly from the ends of the props 3, 3` the channel bars2, 2are traversed by a screw V5 anda threaded sleeve 5 having a knurled headt on its outer end. By screwing the screw and sleeve together the sidebars may be drawn inwardly to reduce the space between the props 3, 3when necessary to adaptthern to the construction of particular engines.Thus the base member lV is constructed so as to possess great rigidityina vertical plane while the elements are exiblelaterally. with respectto each other in order to eect ladjustment of the props, as justexplained. About one? third the distance back from the props 3, 3 aconnecting link 6 is pivotally mounted between the channel bars 2, 2,said link having a connectionat its upper end with a handle lever'7,which vterminates in a handle 8 for cooperating with handle 4L, in theoperation of The handle lever 7 is A.U-shaped in cross section to impartrigidity thereto, the sides of the U being spread apart to form thehandle 8. The link 6 is so constructedA that the space between basemember ly and handle lever 7 may be varied, said link at the connectionbetween'the link 6 same time being flexibly connected to the side bars2, 2 of the base member 1. A detailed description of the construction ofthe link 6 will explain these features.

The link comprises a stud 9 having its upper end pivotally connected tohandle lever 7 by means of a 'pin 10 and having its low-er end threadedinto a cylindrical nut 11 having an annular channel 12 formed on it, theupper shoulder 13 ofsaid channel being rounded so as to form a ball andsocket connection with the correspondingly rounded opening 14 in a seatconnector 15 in the form of a disk. Said disk has oppositely disposedpins 16, 16 projecting from its periphery and into openings' 17, 17 inthe channel bars 2, 2 between which the disk may rock. The lower end ofnut 11 is provided with a knurled head 18 so that the nut may be easilyrotated for the purpose of A2'() propelling vthe stud 9 or drawing thesame inwardly, depending on whether the lbase member 1 and handle lever7 are to be spaced more or less.

and channel bars 2, 2 will be explained hereinafter.

A lifting lever 19 is pivotally connected to base member 1 about midwaybetween the link 6 and the end of handle 4 by means ofV a stud 20 whichtraverses the channel bars 2,

2 thereof, said stud having a nut 21 passed jover its outer threadedend. The lifting lever 19 comprises a pair of lever bars 22, 22, eachVof which is formed of two spring ele- -ments a' and Y), the formerbeing bent outwardly at its free extremity and having ahorizontal'fiange a. The oppositely Vdisposed extremities 23,23 ofvelements a, a together form a Vseat for valve spring S (as shown inFigs. 1 to 5 inclusive). The inner spring elements b, b of the bars 22,22 terminate short of the extremities 23, 23 of the outer elements (L,a, which elements are connected by means kof a stud 2a and threadedsleeve 25 for the purpose of adjusting the spacing of the barextremities 23, 23 to accommodate them to different sizes of springs.The sleeve 25 has a knurled head 26 on its outer end so that it fulcrumthe lifting may be more easily turned. The upwardly bent extremit, 7 ofhandle lever 7 is pivotally connected y means of a pin 27 between thesides 22, 22 of the lifting lever 19, and as the handle lever 7 isrocked upon pin 1Q as a lever 19 will be raised by the forwardend 7 ofthe handle lever, as is clearly apparent on the examination of Figs. 1and 3. A clip 28 is slidably mounted on the lever 19 and serves as anabutment for the handle lever 7 when the handles 4L and 8 are forcedtogether to spread apart the actuat ng end comprising supports 3, 3 andseats 23, 23

of the tool (as shown in Fig. '3).

The operation of my improved valve lifting tool is as follows;

The operator inserts the forked extremity 3, 3, comprising thesupporting elements, into The advantage of the swivelv the space housingthe valve spring S so as toL straddle the cam-follower, or some otherpart of the valve structure, below the valve stem. W ith the base member1 thus supported the spring seat, comprising spaced extremities 23, 23of lifting lever 19, is forced between adjacent coils of the spring S sothat opposite coils will rest upon flanges a', a. Obviously, the spacingof the spring extremities 23, 23 has been previously adjusted by turningthe sleeve 25 so as to best accommodate the spring S. N ith theoperative end of the tool engaged, the operator then presses the handlesi and 8 together so as to rock the handle lever 7 downwardly and thusraising the lifting lever 22 at its forward lend to lift the spring S bycompressing ythe same until it is clear of the split locks n, n, asshown in Fig. V3. The valve lifter may be locked in -this position withthe spring S elevated by sliding the clip 23 rearwardly until itimpinges on the handle lever 7 (Fig. 3). The handles may now be releasedby the operator as the clip 23 prevents them from spreading under thepressure im osed on the forward end of the` l l .f S. The split lockstool by 'the valve spring n, a, as well as the spring seat n', may nowbe easily removed so as to release the spring S. It sometimes happens inapplying the tool to ertain valve structures that the supporting Y asdescribed Iabove, so 'that the connecting' element 15 between said linkand bars 2, 2 is free to oscillate or rock relative to the link 6. Thisis accomplished by means of the ballseat formed by the shoulder 13 andopening 111-., as above described and shown in Fig. 7.

which causes the bars 2, 2 to be Y The swivel connection between thelink 6 Y and base member side bars 2, 2 allows for relative movement ofthe base element in a vertical plane without throwing the spring S outof line and, as a result thereof, cramping the; l

spring retainer on the valve stem and binding the valve parts so thatthey would be ditcult to remove.

rl`he spring construction of the lifting lever side bars 22, 22introduces the necessary iiex\`l4 ibility into these side bars to permitadjustment of the spacing of the springseats 23, 23 without sacrificingstrength. The outer and inner elements a and bof each bar 22 are spotwelded together near their free ends (that is,`vr

just behind the spring seats 23, 23) and are similar to spring leaves intheir action in that they are capable of a certain relative movement asthey areflexed in action. VIt is obvious that, in order to permit thisspring action the stud 20 on which the lever bars 22, 22 are pivotedmust be fitted with clearance into the perforated ends 0f the elements aand Z) which comprise each of said bars 22.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A valve lifter comprising a base member terminating at one end in ahandle and at the opposite end in a suitable support, a handle leverhaving connection with said base member, a lifting lever pivotallyconnected at one end to the base member and having operative engagementwith the handle lever, said lifting lever comprising a pair of spacedlaminated elements terminating in valve part engaging seats thelaminations of each element being securely fixed together for rigidityadjacent to said seats, and means for varying the spacing of said seats.

2. A valve lifter comprising a base member terminating at one end in ahandle and at the opposite end in a pair of spaced supports, means foradjusting the spacing of said supports, a handle lever having connectionwith said base member, a lifting lever pivotally connected at one end tothe base member and having operative engagement with the handle lever,said lifting lever comprising a pair of spaced laminated elementsterminating in valve part engaging seats the laminations of each elementbeing joined adjacent to the seats to integrate each element adjacent tosaid seats, and means for con tracting the laminated elements to varythe spacing of said seats.

3. A valve lifter having a base member comprising apair of spacedchannel bars, a lifting lever pivotally connected at one end betweensaid channel bars and having an adjustable spring seat formed on theopposite end thereof, a handle lever connected to the lifting lever anda link connection between said handle lever and base member channelbars, said link connection being flexible to permit said channel bars tomove vertically out of line without imposing strain on said linkconnection.

4. A valve lifter having a base member comprising a pair of spaced bars,a lifting lever pivotally connected at one end between said bars andhaving a seat formed on the opposite end thereof, a handle leverconnected to the lifting lever, and said handle lever having a flexiblepivot connection with the bars of the base member to permit said bars tomove vertically out of line without imposing strain on the pivot.

5. A valve lifter comprising cooperating valve lifting members pivotallyconnected, one of said members comprising spaced laminated elements andhaving a seat formed on its free end the laminations of each elementbeing joined adjacent to said seat to integrate such part of eachelement for rigidity, suitable handles for operating the liftingmembers, and means for varying the spacing of said elements adjacent tosaid seats.

6. A valve lifter comprising a base member, a lifting member pivotallyconnected therewith, each of saidV members comprising spaced side bars,and a suitable handle member having a flexible pivot connection with thebars of the base member to permit said bars to move vertically out ofline Without imposing strain on the pivot.

7. A valve lifter comprising a `base member terminating at one end` in ahandle and at the opposite end in a pair of spaced supports, a handlelever having connection with said base member, a lifting lever pivotallyconnected at one end to the base member and having operative engagementwith the handle lever, said lifting lever comprising a pair of spacedlaminated elements terminating in valve part engaging seats thelaminations of each element being joined to form an integral portionadjacent to the seats, and means for varying the spacing of saidV seats.

8. A valve lifter comprising cooperating valve lifting members pivotallyconnected,

one of said members comprising spaced laminated elements, each of whichhas a seat portion on its free end, said laminations being joined toprovide each element with an integral portion adjacent to the seatportions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aliix my signature.

JOSEPH SUNN EN les

